Derailing-switch.



PATENTED JUNE 30,- 1908.

J. H. COVEY. DERAILIN'G SWITCH. APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. zo, 1907.

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JOHN H. OOVEY, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLARDKELLS, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

DERAILING-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June l8O, 1908.

Application filed September 20, 1907. Serial No. 393,758.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. OovEY, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Derailing-Switches, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to a derailing switch which is applied to a railof railway tracks for throwing the cars or train ofl the rails when thederailing switch has been set for this pur ose.

The o ject of this invention is to provide a switch of this characterwhich is simple in construction and reliable in operation and which isnot liable to be interfered with by parts de ending from the car norliable to become c ogged by snow and ice.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure l is atop plan view of my improvedderailing switch, showing the same in its operative position on a rail.yFig. 2 is a cross section thereof in line 2-2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal section thereof in line 8-3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a erspectiveview of the derailing lever and b ook. Fig. 5 is a similar view of thesupport or bracket'whereby the derailing lever is pivotally mounted onthe rail. l

Similarletters of reference indicate correspending parts throughout theseveral views.

A represents one of the rails of a railway track which may be of anywell known or approved construction and supported upon ties a in theusual manner.

B represents the derailing block or shoe which may rest u on the top ofthe rail so as to be engaged y the wheel of a car and run the latter offthe track when this is desired and which may be moved laterally anddownwardly on one side of the rail so as to leave the to of the railclear and also avoid projeetin@y t e block upwardly above the top of therai so as to prevent interference with any parts depending from the car.This block is shown in its operative position by full lines in Figs. 1,2 and 3 and by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2. The derailing block may bevariously constructed but preferably lconsists lof a body l) adapted torest lengthwise upon the to of the rail and having its front endincliner, whereby the tread of the car wheel is guided gradually fromthe rail to the block and an oblique deecting flange or rib b1 isarranged on the rear part of the body and extending from a point insideof the rail toward the outer side thereof so as to be engaged by the[lange of the wheel and thereby operate to move the wheel graduallylater a l y off the rail.

The derailing block is mounted on the upper arm C of an elbow-shapedderailing lever the other or lower arm (j of which is connected by anysuitable means with the operating mechanism of an adjacent switch standor semaphore or with any other suitable operating mechanism. Thatportion of the operating mechanism for the derailing lever and blockshown in the drawings consists of a horizontally turning elbow lever Dpivoted adjacent to the rail and having one of its arms connected by arod or link d with the lower arm of the derailing lever while its otherarm is connected by a rod or link (Z1 with the device whereby thederailing switch is operated.

Various means may be provided for imparting a combined sliding andpivotal movement to the derailing lever :for shifting 'the block thereofinto and out of its operative position. The preferred means for thispurpose shown in the drawings consists of a pair of guide pins e, earranged on opposite sides of the central part of the derailing leverand entering curved slots, grooves or guide-ways f, f formed on theinner sides of guide lugs F, F which are arranged on opposite sides ofthe derailing lever. These guide lugs are arranged on a longitudinalsupportin Y plate G which is secured vertically to the ad'acent outerside of the web of the rail by means of bolts g, as shown in Fig. 3, orby any other suitable fastener. The curvature of the guideways orgrooves extends generally in a vertical direction and the inner side ofthe same is nearest to the rail and the upper ends of these groovesterminate below the top of the rail while the lower ends thereofterminate below the underside of the rail. By this construction of thesegrooves any outward'pull on the lower arm of the derailing lever causesthe latter to slide with its guide pins upwardly in the guide-ways orgrooves on a curved line and also turn with its pins in these grooves sothat the upper arm of the lever is raised and also swung inwardly anddownwardly for bringing the derailing block squarely on top of the rail,as shown by full lines in Fig. 2. Upon pushing the lower arm of thederailing lever inwardly the same will slide with its guide pinsdownwardly in the guide-ways or grooves and at the same time turn in avertical plane so as to bring the lower arm thereof underneath the trackand its upper arm together with the derailing block mounted thereon intoa position along the outer side of the rail and below the top of thelatter, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. By this combined pivotal andsliding connection of the derailing lever with its .support orbracket, avery compact and strong construction is produced while at'the same timea range of movement of considerable length is obtained for permittingthe derailing block to be shifted into its proper position over the railwhen it is required for use and also to be shifted laterally anddownwardly on the outer side of the rail where it will be out of the wayand not form an obstruction which would be liable to interfere withparts depending' from the car.

The outer side 7L of the guide lugs form closures for the outer sides ofthe guide-ways or grooves therein and thus prevent snow and ice fromentering these grooves at the outer sides and thereby reduce theliability of interference by ice and snow with the free movement of theguide pins in these guideways or grooves.- The downward movement of thederailing lever is limited by its guide pins engaging with the lowerends of the guide-ways or grooves on the bracket but the upward movementthereof is preferably limited by means of a stop or stop lug iprojecting inwardly from the central part of the derailing lever andengaging with the underside of a laterally projecting' stop or stopflange arranged on the upper portion of the supporting plate, as shownby full lines in Fig. 2. By this means the downward pressure of thewheel which is exerted upon the inner portion of the derailing blockwhen engaged by the car wheel is resisted by the stop lug i on thederailing lever engaging with the stop iiange y', thereby relieving theguide pins from this strain and preventing the same from becoming'broken.

Between the derailing block and the guide pins the upper arm ofv thederailing lever is provided with an inwardly projecting thrust lug 7cwhich is substantially V-shaped and iits into the correspondingly shapedrecess formed between the outer side of the rail head and the upper sideof the stop flange on the supporting bracket, as shown in Fig. 2. Bythis means the derailing lever and bracket are interlocked in theoperative position of the lever and block, whereby the lateral outwardthrust ofV the car wheel against the block and lever upon engaging thesame is prevented from displacing or shifting the lever and block out oftheir operative position, thereby insuring the retention of these parts[in position so as to operate reliably in derailing the car.

For the sake of simplicity, cheapness and durability the derailinglever, guide ins and block are preferably formed integrally. For thesame reason the supporting plate, guide lugs and stop flange whichconstitute the supporting bracket of the lever are also formed in onepiece. In order to permit of assembling or dismembering the derailinglever and connecting parts with the bracket when thus constructedpassage-ways or notches Z are formed in the i'nnerwalls of theguide-ways or grooves above the lower ends of the same, as shown inFigs. 2, 3 and 5. l'llhrough these notches the pins of the derailinglever may be moved inwardly and outwardly-for assembling or dismemberingthe lever and bracket when the latter is detached from the rail. Butwhen the bracket is attached to the rail these notches or passagewaysare closed by thel adjacent base portion of therail, thereby preventingthe guide pins from passing out through the same and dismembering theparts of the derailing switch when the same is installed and incondition for use.

My improved derailing switch is very strong and compact, the same whennot in use does not form a dangerous obstruction above the level of thetrack, and owing to the combined sliding andv pivotal movement of thelever in a curved path the parts are not liable to be interfered with bysnow and ice, thus reducing the liability of impairing the switch to aminimum.

I claim as my invention:

1. A derailing device comprisingasupporting bracket, a derailing piece,and a single connection between said derailing piece and bracketconstructed to permit of a combined pivotal and sliding movement of thederailing' piece relatively to said bracket for movi ing the derailingpiece into its operative and inoperative position.

2. A derailing switch comprising a support having a pair of lugs whichare provided with guide-ways extending in a vertical direction, a leverarranged between said lugs and having pins moving insaid guide-ways, anda derailing block arranged on saidlever, substantially as set forth.

3. A derailing switch comprising a support having a pair 0f lugs whichare provided withI guide-ways extending in a vertical direction, a leverarranged between said lugs and having pins moving in said guide-ways,and a derailing block arranged on said lever, the inner walls of saidways having notches through which said pins are adapted to pass inassembling or dismembering the parts, substantially as set forth.

4. A derailing switchcomprising a support having a pair of lugs whichare provided with guide-ways extending in a vertical direction, a leverarranged between said lugs and having pins moving in said guide-ways,and a derailing block arranged on said lever, the inner walls of saidways having notches through which said pins are ada ted to pass inassembling or dismembering t e parts and which are adapted to be closedby the rail of a track when in use, substantially as set forth.

5. A derailing switch comprising a su port having a pair of lugs whichare provide with guide-Ways extending in a vertical direction, a leverarranged between said lugs and having pins moving in said guide-ways, aderailing block arranged on said lever, and a stop arranged on saidlever and adapted to engage with a stop on the support 'for limiting theupward movement of the lever, substantially as set forth.

6. A derailing switch comprising a support having a pair of lugs whichare provided with guide-ways extending in a vertical direction, a lever'arranged between said lugs and having pins moving in said guide-ways, aderailving block arranged on said lever, a stop arranged on the innerside of said lever, and a stop arranged on said support between its lugsand adapted to be engaged by the stop on the lever, substantially as setforth.

7. A derailing switch comprising a support ,having a pair of lugsprovided on their inner sides with guide-ways and a stop flange betweenthe upper parts of said lugs and forming a recess between said stopflange and the head of the rail when the support is attached lto thesame, a lever arranged between said lugs and provided on its upper armwith a derailing block and on its opposite sides with pms moving in saidguide-ways, and a lug arranged on the upper arm of said lever and adated to fit in said recess, substantially as set forth.

8. A derailing switch comprising a bracket or su port composed of aplate adapted to be attac ed to one side of the web of a rail, two lugsprojecting laterally from the side of the plate and provided on theiropposing inner sides with upwardly extending curved guidewaysor'grooves, and a sto flange arranged on the upper part of said p atebetween said lugs, a lever arranged between' said lugs and provided onopposite sides with pins which move in said guide-ways, a derailingblock arranged on the upper arm of said lever and adapted to rest onsaid i'ail, a stop lug ai'- ranged on the inner side of the central partof said lever and adapted to engage with the under side of said stopHarige, and a thrust lug arranged on the inner side of the upper arm ofsaid lever and adapted to engage with the upper side of said stopflange, the inner walls of said guide-ways having notches which are adated to be closed by the base of the rail and tirough which the pins ofthe lever are adapted to pass in assembling or dismeinbering the parts,substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand this 16th day ol September, 1907.

JOHN H. COVEY. Witnesses:

THEO. L. Pori), ANNA HEiGrs.

